UCLA Health Santa Monica Dermatology

I was a patient at UCLA dermatology in the Santa Monica office where I saw Dr. Modiri for a dark line on my nail bed. I went to rule out melanoma and when he reviewed it was through a lens and shared that he believed it was benign. That was a relief at 8.5 months pregnant. However, when I got the bill I was charged $1000+ for a simple consultation and have been messaging the billing department a few times for an explanation as to why it's so high. The bill was discount to $864 but even then that is so ridiculous!!! I haven't paid that much for other procedures while pregnant and in the past at other UCLA health for other concerning moles that resulted being benign. I do not understand why this bill is so high for an initial visit and all I got was a response of that is the price set and is not disputable. I have reached out via the survey LinkedIn on a few reviews but have yet to get someone to each out. I would like to chat to understand why this is so high. And to be honest if this is the price I will second a few more people on yelp and on the UCLA website that there is a severe upcoding. I thought the lack of parking validation was annoying but this is by far is greedy.

If you have an appointment here, be extra early or you may be turned back. Even if it's just 7 minutes. This dermatologist office is not easy to find. There are no indications when you drive by that there is a UCLA Health office here. I drove by slowly and wasn't sure I was even in the right place. I had to drive around the block to make sure and even then I wasn't sure so I took the leap of faith. I entered the parking structure which is all the way in the back of the building the office is in. Once you park it's not clear where you need to go so I just looked where people were heading and I saw an elevator. No indications or clues where to go there either. I got off on the ground level and passed by a doorway with a different address so I went on. Finally I found the building but nowhere could I see any UCLA Health office sign. I looked on the list of suites and couldn't quickly find anything. So I walked on to look for suite 1070. It was nowhere to be found. Luckily I ran into a nurse and she had no idea where the office was till I said "Suite 1070". She said it was on the 10th floor. I took the elevator up and sure enough Suite 1070 was there. The office had very few people waiting. I let a young woman behind the desk know I was there for an appointment. I sat down and shortly after the young woman told me that I was going to be rescheduled. I asked why and she tried to get me in but to no avail. I appreciated that. I also noticed that other people had had problems finding the place by the embarrassed faces she made when I explained why I was late. She was very nice but the other lady behind the desk was not. I asked to get a call from the office manager and the young lady told me I'd get a call. I got a call much later on in the day. Apparently, I had been turned back because I was late. I explained how I had trouble locating the office. The lady reminded me we're supposed to arrive early. I insisted that it's hard to find the location and she said she would validate my parking for my rescheduled appointment "as a courtesy". Whoah, I got here late because of a set of circumstances and not because I'm habitually late to appointments. Did not appreciate that comment. Her assistance was somewhat acceptable. The lady was nice enough but she was kind of a robot. Kind of cold and jaded. Still I insist, under no circumstances get here right on time if you are not familiar with the location of this office. Parking was $9.

The nurse practitioner misdiagnosed my mole as a wart and used cryotherapy. Thank God, I saw a doctor a few days later. I’m really disgusted by the lack of care from this clinic at the onset. There are wonderful doctors here, but nurses should not be treating patients without getting a proper opinion from a doctor if they are unsure of it. The worst part was she was already trying to book me in for multiple sessions. And now it’s infected. Awful experience.

Called to schedule as a new patient and was spoken to so rudely when I simply asked clarifying questions.

I wish I would have read the reviews before scheduling an appointment. They charged my insurance (Anthem, PPO) +$1000 for a 5minutes visit. Ridiculous. I ended up paying $636. Never again

This man is an angel and if you would like a Dr willing to go the extra mile and listen to what you have to say when everyone else won’t this is your guy. He is a great dr and has healed my face in the few visits I have seen him.

I wish I had read these review before making my appointment. I had a skin tag that was bothering me and fell off the night before my appointment. I decided to go in anyway and have Dr Bernet look at it. She said she would zap it so it didn’t come back. My insurance was billed $1,400. I called the office twice hoping to speak to the office Manager, Keesha. I also sent a message through the mychart app. I never heard back so I called a third time and a nice man named Jonathan explained that this is the code that they use for "lesion destruction". (But the lesion was already gone) He told me this is what the doctor decided to bill and they could not adjust it. Just FYI if you go to a cosmetic dermatologist a skin tag removal averages $170. This office is taking advantage of insurance companies and their patients. My insurance is Blue Shield PPO but they would not cover this insanely overpriced procedure. The doctor is very nice and I really liked her but I can’t be charged this much for a small, unnecessary procedure.